Sunday-5:15am

I didn't sleep well Friday night--so I actually fell asleep in my chair for 4-5 hours on Saturday and woke up at quarter to eight at night! Talk about an unusual thing for me to do. Unheard of when Miss Gracie was here, that's for sure--plus I am not usually a napper--hehe! So, I have been up all night again. Warning--lots of pictures this morning!

First of all, here are the potential cards that I glued the paper moulds on the fronts of on Friday. The one card, standing up, is actually finished. But--funny thing--I went to write in it this morning and it wasn't such a good idea to put the moulds on before I had written in them--hehe! Really are quite lumpy to write on that side--chuckle! Do-able, tho. I shall manage, never fear. :)

Okay--here is the entire construction process. First I take the cover sheet of handmade paper, place it on the plastic piece that protects the table... ...line up the ruler and punch the holes every half an inch. I decided I needed a nice tight sewing to keep the pages neat and so the threads wouldn't be flopping about like they can do when they are longer.

Then I picked out however many sheets I wanted for that card (2-6 half sheets--this one had 6), lined up the ruler again, and punched the holes half inch apart again through all six sheets. I just love my Japanese screw punch!! Was such a good investment. I use it a lot!

I picked out a color of embroidery thread to go with the card and used a threader for the needle. This is a needle with a larger hole and a dull point.

I tend to pull off too much of the thread, but I never have to worry about not having enough, I guess--hehe! :)

I pull the thread halfway through the bottom hole of the card...

...and then sew up to the top and leave the thread dangle. Thread the needle on the other end...

...and sew up the other side...

...leaving the threads on the outside of the card.

Then I tie a knot--about 4 times.

Trim the knot and you're done. I have left dangling threads, too, before. You could even tie beads, charms, or other do-dads on to the threads, too. Whatever you like.

Yes--I save the leftover pieces of embroidery thread--chuckle! I plan to cut them up into small pieces and throw them into some paper pulp one day--like thread confetti! :)

Here's the "bookcard" all finished.

And from another angle. They do lie flat when you are writing, too. I am loving them!!

So--that is what I was doing in the middle of the night as long as I was awake. :) Keeps me out of trouble, eh?

I only made a couple of cards and took all these pictures. I have a whole stack of handmade paper to make cards with, too. Now that I have this process going, I can move it to one end of the table and get the Chinese brush painting stuff out again--tada! I also want to get back to practicing my orchids and bamboo. :)

Others are getting up soon--I shall be crashing in a while here. Have a great day!! :)